Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan said that the Israelis are not welcome in Saudi Arabia, after Tel Aviv issued a decision allowing the Israelis to travel to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi minister indicated - in an interview with the American CNN network - that relations with Israel depended on reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians, and added that Saudi Arabia encourages a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Regarding the decision issued by the Israeli Ministry of Interior to allow its citizens to travel to Saudi Arabia, Bin Farhan said that the kingdom's policy is consistent and that it has no relations with Israel.
The Israeli Ministry of the Interior issued a statement on Sunday allowing Israelis, if they were invited or issued permits by Saudi Arabia, to travel to the Kingdom for religious reasons such as Hajj, or to conduct commercial activities such as investment or holding meetings, provided that the travel period reaches nine days.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that the announcement of the Israeli Minister of the Interior to sign a decree allowing Israelis to travel to Saudi Arabia comes against the background of warming relations between Israel and the Gulf states.
It is noteworthy that the unofficial public travel from Israel to Saudi Arabia was limited to 48 Palestinians for performing the rituals of Hajj and Umrah according to the Jordanian guardianship.
According to the official Israeli radio (Kan), the recent years have witnessed an unprecedented consolidation of relations between Israel and the Gulf states, especially Saudi Arabia, and attributed this rapprochement to what it called the growing threats from Iran and the deterioration of the Palestinian issue.